Fictitious sale
Topic: Colonial Economy: Land Revenue, Drain, Deindustrialisation · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 1 "Colonialism and the Countryside"
Meaning
A fictitious sale was a trick that Bengal zamindars used to beat auctions after the Permanent Settlement of 1793. The zamindar's agents bid higher than everyone else at the auction. Then they refused to pay the purchase money. This forced the estate to be sold again, and the trick was repeated. In the end, the tired government sold the estate back to the zamindar at a low price. Over 15 per cent of all auction sales between 1793 and 1801 were fictitious.
Example
At the Burdwan auction of 1797, over 95 per cent of the sale was fictitious. The buyers were the Raja of Burdwan's own servants and agents.
Don't confuse with
- Benami transaction: a benami deal was any deal made in a false or unimportant person's name, such as moving property to women of the family. A fictitious sale was the specific trick of bidding at auction and then refusing to pay.